The present invention relates to pinball games of the type wherein a ball rolls along an inclined playfield board for interaction with targets or the like. In particular, the invention relates to a pinball game which utilizes a plurality of ball propelling devices which are ganged together for simultaneous operation.
Many variations of pinball-type games are known which include means for propelling the ball along the playfield board after it has been introduced into play. It is also known to gang together plural ones of said propelling devices for simultaneous operation. For example, simultaneously-operated flippers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,885,036 and 2,551,698, the former disclosing manually-operated flippers and the latter disclosing solenoid-actuated flippers. But in flipper-type ball propelling devices the direction in which the ball is propelled is relatively difficult to control, this direction being a function of a timing of the flipper operation.
It is also known to provide in pinball games automatically-actuated knickers or bumpers which respond to ball impact thereon for propelling the ball therefrom in a predetermined direction. Such kicker devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,602. However, such kicker devices always operate independently of one another and the direction in which they propel the ball is fixed.